New quotas to limit hiring of foreigners in South
Africa: minister
Businesstech – 20 June 2022
Employment and Labour minister Thulas Nxesi says his
department is in the process of finalising two new documents which will tighten
employment laws, including limitations on the hiring of foreigners.
Nxesi was responding to complaints by truck drivers this
week which led to a major blockage of the N3 highway. One of the key complaints
raised by the drivers is that jobs are being taken by both legal and illegal foreign
workers.
One of the key ways that government plans to address this is
through the proposed National Labour Migration Policy, Nxesi said. He noted
that the policy aims to achieve a balance across several areas, including:
• The first
is to address South Africans’ expectations regarding access to work
opportunities, given worsening unemployment and the perception that foreign
nationals are distorting labour market access. The NLMP, together with proposed
legislation, will introduce quotas on the total number of documented foreign
nationals with work visas that can be employed in major economic sectors such
as Agriculture, Hospitality and Tourism, Construction, etc.
• The NLMP
will be complemented by small business interventions and enforcement of a list
of sectors where foreign nationals cannot be allocated business visas and
amendments to the Small Business Act to limit foreign nationals establishing
SMMEs and trading in some sectors of the economy.
• The
Department of Home Affairs is reviewing current legislation and strengthening
the Border Management Authority to secure porous borders and to allow for the
orderly movement of people and other nationals through ports of entry only.
• Government
plans to ramp up inspections to enforce existing labour and immigration
legislation.
Employment Services Amendment Bill
Nxesi said the National Labour Migration Policy goes hand in
hand with the proposed Employment Services Amendment Bill, which provide the
legal basis to regulate the extent to which employers can employ foreign
nationals in their establishments while protecting the rights of migrants.
The proposed amendments to the Employment Services Act aim
to limit the extent to which employers can employ the number of foreign
nationals in possession of a valid work visa in their employment,” he said.
It will also place several obligations on an employer
employing foreign workers, including:
• Only
employ foreign nationals entitled to work in terms of the Immigration Act, the
Refugees Act, or any other provision;
• Ascertain
the foreign national is entitled to work in the Republic in the relevant
position;
• Satisfy
themselves that there are no South Africans with the requisite skills to fill
the vacancy;
• Prepare a
skills transfer plan, where appropriate;
• Employ
foreign nationals on the same terms as local workers; and
• Retain
copies of relevant documentation
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